Colin Powell says he plans to vote for Clinton, reports say

William Cummings , USA TODAY , KING6:59 PM. EDT October 25, 2016

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell waves before arrival of President Barack Obama at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington,DC on October 17, 2016. / AFP / YURI GRIPAS (Photo credit should read YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images) (Photo: YURI GRIPAS, Custom)

Former secretary of State Colin Powell intends to vote for the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, for president, according to CNN and The New York Times.

Powell announced he is voting for Clinton and denounced her opponent, Donald Trump while speaking before a Long Island trade group, the Times reported.

Powell's decision to vote for Clinton was confirmed by his chief of staff, Peggy Cifrino, according to CNN.

His support of Clinton comes despite his feelings in 2014 that "he would rather not vote for her," which came to light when hackers released a number of Powell's private emails in September. In one email, Powell called Clinton, "A 70-year-old person with a long track-record, unbridled ambition, greedy, not transformational, with a husband still d---ing bimbos at home (according to the NYP)."

Whatever his misgivings about Clinton, they seem to have been outweighed by his dislike of Trump, whom he called "a national disgrace and an international pariah," as well as a "know nothing" in his emails.

Clinton would be the third Democrat in a row to win Powell's endorsement, although he identifies himself as a Republican.